Page 24 - Headingtonian Magazine 2017

THE HEADINGTONIAN 2017
WORDSMITHS, TO THE FORE!
AN INTERVIEW WITH
BECKY HAWKES
ACTING HEAD OF ENGLISH
The Headingtonian knocked on Becky Hawkes’ door to find out how the School’s English Department promotes and celebrates creativity and performance. Here’s what she told us.
‘Creative writing in all its forms is at the heart of our work in the English Department. That includes the work of the greats in English Literature – from Shakespeare to Seamus Heaney and beyond – as well as the creative writing of the girls themselves.
As you’d expect, exploring dramatic writing is a key part of our curriculum work. For example, in key Stage 3, Years 7, 8 and 9 study extracts from Shakespeare’s plays alongside examples of 20th Century drama that has a comparable theme or context. Discovering the treasure trove of drama in English Literature involves both the critical exploration of the text as well as seeing plays performed on film and live in the theatre.
From the perspective of media, for an important part of the GCSE English assessment our pupils have to write pieces in different forms, adapting language to different audiences. This brings us to the analysis of different types of newspaper reporting, use of language and the popular press. Studying English Language also touches on how rhetoric is used theatrically in famous speeches through history.
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